Time to Get Personal

October 4, 2018 /
By
Brenna Pink Pampena

I’m a subscriber and regular reader of Intercom’s blog and e-newsletter, called Inside Intercom. (If you haven’t heard of them, they make customer messaging apps that support the full customer experience from marketing to sales and service. Full disclosure, we are not a customer or partner but do admire their marketing strategy!)

So when I saw this very cool microsite that the Inside Intercom team put together to support a new product launch, I was immediately inspired. One, because I always love a creative approach to product marketing. But primarily because their message – about how the definition of “personalized customer engagement” dramatically changes as new technology is adopted – rings so true.

For example, a telephone call from a human being, now considered a rude intrusion, used to be the pinnacle of personalization for brands communicating with customers.

Imagine that tomorrow you receive a phone call from a software sales representative – happens to me all the time (marketing is the biggest IT buyer, right?). Now imagine that instead of hanging up in aggravation, you turn to your friend or co-worker and say, “I’ve just had the most delightful conversation with Rachel from Acme Software!”

The point is, preferred channels for “personalized service” are always cycling in and out of vogue.

I’m guessing the Inside Intercom team did such a stellar job researching and telling the story of this historical evolution because their upcoming product launch will help address what’s required for the next iteration of personal customer communication in the wake of new technology and communication channels.

But what this really got me thinking about is, what are the tenets of personalized customer engagement that don’t change, regardless of the communication channel or technology du jour?

At Glympse, our answer for personalized customer engagement spans the last mile of the customer journey and is heavily focused on providing visibility and information during historically low-visibility moments – for a scheduled service, delivery or takeout order. However, even as our product has evolved and become more sophisticated, and even as we’ve added new features, they’re always centered around a few core tenants to drive very personalized experiences.

1. Customer communication, no matter what form it takes or what channel it happens in, requires as much rich context as possible.

2. Information, especially as our economy has shifted to instant gratification and on-demand models, must be “of the moment.” Sometimes even a few seconds too late is too late to solve a customer problem, have the desired impact on satisfaction or revenue, etc.

3. Personalized engagement requires a delicate balancing act, with persistence and repetition on one side and customers proactively and independently seeking only the information they care about on the other. Today we have the behavioral data to adjust experiences to meet those preferences, so there’s no excuse why you can’t be simultaneously omnipresent and invisible.

How are you building a customer engagement strategy that’s personal and that stands the test of time, even as new methods for engaging become available? Tell us in the comments below!